Plushie no Jutsu
by Miali
Summary: Tsunade has a plan for Iruka. Led by the insane ideas of a few drunken jounin, she has decided to set up the teacher’s love life once and for all. [Kakashi x Iruka] Chapter six up, team seven gets a mission!
1. Tsunade's Plan

Title: Plushie no jutsu

Chapter: One – Tsunade's plan

Series: Naruto

Author: Miali

Pairing: Kakashi x Iruka, Genma x Raido

Genre: Humor/Romance

Rating: PG-13 – for now.

Summary: Tsunade has a plan for Iruka. Led by the insane ideas of a few drunken jounin, she has decided to set up the teacher's love life once and for all. Kakashi x Iruka

A/N: Hayate isn't dead, first of all. Secondly, this is my first attempt at a Naruto fan fiction, let alone a shounen-ai one. Suggestions are ALWAYS welcome! 3

! -! -!

Umino Iruka needed a life, Tsunade decided, staring over her paperwork at the wall on the other side of her office. A love life, particularly. However, the Hokage couldn't think of a single female chuunin, or jounin for that matter, that would fit with the schoolteacher. She sighed, leaning her head forward to rest on an empty space of the desk. _Maybe a female isn't what he needs… The chuunin isn't nearly the most masculine of the shinobi in the village…_A cruel smile formed on the Hokage's lips. She had the perfect nin in mind. Now, all she needed was a plan.

Genma was the first to come up with finishing of the idea. A congregation of special jounin, especially when drunk, were always full of ideas. Tsunade had offered to buy Genma, Raido, Izumo, Kotetsu, and Hayate a round of drinks at the local sake bar in congratulations of a well-completed mission, or something of the sort. The jounin didn't really care about the reason; they were getting free alcohol after all. After they were all good and drunk, the topic of Iruka and the silver haired jounin came up.

"Hey, I know…" Raido was the first to begin the plotting, "Send 'im on a mission or something… And then we could DO things to him." The young jounin winked at Genma across the table, who smirked and twitched his senbon suggestively. (1)

Kotetsu swayed slightly, "We could turn him into something… Invent a jutsu or something like that…" Tsunade smiled, all that was needed was a what.

Genma laughed loudly, completely drunk. His eyes glanced at the toyshop across the street and he grinned widely. "Let's make 'm into a plushie." Tsunade's grin turned more devious, unknown to the drunken jounin, who laughed and suggested more ridiculous objects to turn the copy nin into. The ideas ranged from other toys to Kakashi's infamous novels, to even more perverted things (if such existed.)

When the special jounin finally stumbled home, the Hokage casually walked back to her apartment, having consumed much less sake than she would have liked. Upon her arrival home, she began to develop a modified henge jutsu which would turn the user into a small stuffed toy, which looked like a chibi of the user. Once that was completed, she added a lock to the technique, enabling the user to get out only if they used the correct counter-jutsu. Overall, the jutsu was almost permanent and used very little chakra to maintain.

Tsunade looked at the clock on her table, it was very early and she still had yet to create a good excuse to get Kakashi out on a "mission" for a few weeks, if necessary. Quickly scribbling down the jutsu onto a scroll, she wrote out a false mission on another and bound the two together. Hanging from a string was a small tag with a message reading,

_Kakashi,_

_These scrolls contain your mission, and a jutsu necessary to perform it properly. You are to leave the village as quickly as you can, but keep in mind, you must perform the jutsu as soon as you reach the gates to leave Konoha, or sooner. This is a secret technique, and NO ONE must see you perform it. This is an A-rank mission, so stay alert shinobi. _

_Best of luck,_

_Gondaime – Tsunade._

The blond woman smirked and set the scrolls aside for the coming morning. This was going to be a mission like no other. Checking over the jutsu one last time, Tsunade finally fell asleep, only to awaken in a few short hours.

! -! -!

A/N: So, there you have the first chapter. Sorry it's so short, it's just basically a set up… The next chapters will be much longer, I promise!

(1) – Reference to a few of Meleth78's fan fictions. If you haven't read them, go do so NOW.


	2. Changes

Title: Plushie no Jutsu

Chapter: Two – Changes

Series: Naruto

Author: Miali

Genre: Humor/Romance

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be doing this, now would I? (I forgot this last time… )

A/N: And so it continues. I'm not exactly sure how long this is going to go on… I suppose it all depends, really. Also, Sasuke is not gone, neither is Naruto. (I haven't decided if Sasuke has come back, or never left yet.)

! -! -!

Tsunade mumbled and rolled over in bed. Sitting up she groggily covered her eyes momentarily with her fingers, rubbing them in small circling motions. Sliding her feet from her bed, she touched the bare soles to the ground and shivered before walking toward her dresser and changing for the morning. Taking a sip from a marked water bottle (2), she placed it inside her bag with the scrolls and made her way to work, mumbling about lack of sleep because of stupid jounin.

Upon arrival at her office, Shizune immediately inquired about the Hokage's state of health. Tsunade promptly explained she hadn't slept well, and proceeded to summon the closest ANBU, who appeared silently, red and white porcelain cat mask in place.

"Tsunade-sama."

"I need this delivered to Hatake-san, immediately. Inform him I am too busy to deliver it himself, and all instructions are enclosed." The cat nodded and Tsunade grinned evilly before sending Shizune down to the mission room with a paper explaining Kakashi's absence for the next few weeks. The paper further explained that a substitute was necessary for the further learning of Kakashi's three genin.

The fifth Hokage propped her feet up onto the desk, knocking off some papers before closing her eyes and relaxing. Her plan appeared to be going smoothly. Now, she just had to wait to pick up the prize.

! -! -!

Kakashi opened the door of his apartment to find an ANBU member standing on his front porch. He rubbed at his exposed eye and picked up the scrolls. Nodding to the cat, he stepped back into the small apartment as the figure disappeared.

Locking the door behind him, the nin placed the second scroll on the nearest countertop and opened the first after a casual glance at the tag containing the short message from the Hokage. Reading over the brief mission summary he quickly packed his things and made his way from the apartment in the direction of the gate.

Something worried the more skeptical nin in Kakashi's mind. _Why would no one be allowed to see me perform the jutsu_, he wondered, and in a short amount of time, he was on the road to the main gate of Konohagakure.

The jounin was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't catch the stumbling chuunin until the man was on top of him. A clear blue eye looked up at a chocolate-haired schoolteacher who was resting in the middle of Kakashi's rib cage.

"Maa… Good morning, Iruka-sensei." There was little happiness in the jounin's statement; the two hadn't been on the best of terms since the spat at the chuunin exams. The sensei in question immediately blushed and stood, chocolate eyes opening in alarm, and he bowed politely, before gathering his supplies.

"Very sorry, Kakashi-san," the teacher bowed quickly again before hurrying off in the direction of the academy, avoiding further interaction with the jounin. Kakashi stood and brushed the dirt off of his uniform, watching the chuunin disappear down the road. Beginning his leisurely pace toward the gate, he deviated slightly from the main road.

Standing against the wall of the city, concealed within the shadows, Kakashi cast another look around to make sure no one was watching him. A pale, gloved hand reached toward his scroll pocket, removing the small green roll. Opening the scroll, he studied the contents for a moment, before beginning the jutsus necessary. A few hand seals later and there was a puff of pale blue-gray smoke, and Kakashi disappeared.

! -! -!

A/N: Alright, so it wasn't much longer, I apologize. I'll do better! I promise!

(2) – Reference to Imbrium Iridum's fic Chibi'd. Go forth and read!


	3. Realization

Title: Plushie no jutsu

Chapter three: Realization

Series: Naruto

Author: Miali

Genre: Humor/Romance

Disclaimer: Another verse, same as the first. A little bit louder and a whole lot worse.

A/N: The third chapter finally comes out! I'm so sorry for the delay. There was school, and crew, and the whole Japan thing (more about that later.) This is the third time I've written this, the first was deleted (damn computer) and the second I just didn't like. So, let's hope this gets up online, shall we?

! -! -!

The genius nin, Hatake Kakashi, was confused. Within mere seconds, the world around him had grown to incredible proportions and something about him felt, well, fuzzy. The blades of grass loomed over him and the jounin quickly realized he was no longer standing. Using his (now nearly fingerless) stubby arms, he attempted to push himself to a standing position in order to survey his surroundings further.

The silver haired ninja maneuvered himself to his rounded feet for but a moment before toppling sideways back into the grass. The jounin deciding that standing was no longer possible, dragged himself toward the wall of the city, only a few feet away. Sitting up, he propped himself against the wall and gave himself a once-over.

He was still wearing all of his clothing, right down to the kunai holster strapped to his leg, and his headband still covered his sharingan eye. His entire body, however, was disturbingly out of proportion. His head alone was roughly the size of his body with his hair still sticking up in unruly silver tufts above him. He had gone from a height of nearly six feet to one of about eight inches. His eyes seemed to take up about half of his face, which was usual for people such as Sakura, but not himself, and the rest was covered by a mask.

His arms were thin, with large hands which together could barely reach the top of the headband on his head. His legs were also thin and his feet were large and heavy, but unable to support his sorely ill proportioned body. _Overall,_ he thought, _I look like one of those plushie things that Sakura has…_

Kakashi was interrupted from his reverie quickly however, by the sound of footsteps approaching. Looking over, he saw shoes, followed by legs with greenish-grey pants. As the person stepped closer, Kakashi could tell they were obviously female, face blocked from his perspective by very large breasts. Two very trim hands moved forward and formed a few seals and Kakashi's mind recognized them quickly. He was unable, however, to stop her and found himself paralyzed by the jutsu.

_Damn you, Tsunade_, the jounin thought as she bent to pick him up from the grassy floor, grinning evilly. She tucked him under her arm and began to walk back toward the village, talking to him along the way.

"Kakashi-san," She began, "I'm glad to see the jutsu I've created has worked well," She smiled at him, and he would have glared back had he been able to move his felt features. "I'm sorry but I believe you'll have to stay like this for quite some time," the gondaime laughed, "You can blame your fellow jounin for this one. I was quite surprised what Genma and Hayate have the creativity to come up with…" The Hokage trailed off as they approached a noisier part of the town, the voices of children were picked up easily by the jounin.

"Ah, here we are now…" The two made their way around the academy toward the training fields where the students were enjoying a short recess from their studies. Konohamaru and his friends Moegi and Udon were playing Shinobi amongst the trees, far too eager to become real ninja. Tsunade smiled softly, remembering her little brother and hoping these three wouldn't suffer a cruel fate for their nation. Turning left, Tsunade walked casually into the academy and down the hallway toward Iruka's classroom.

"Ohayo Tsunade-sama," Iruka spoke from his desk as he watched the Hokage walk into the room, "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" He smiled as he finished grading an essay on weapons usage and turned his attention onto the older woman.

"Iruka-sensei," she stated, "I found this by the wall of the city. I thought it could possibly belong to one of your students. I've heard they are fond of plushies lately." Iruka nodded and took the plushie from the blonde. _Why would anyone want a Kakashi plushie? _He wondered. "Thank you Iruka-sensei." Tsunade left quickly and walked briskly down the hallway, holding her laughter until she reached the door of the academy.

! -! -!

Iruka looked over at the Kakashi plushie for the fourth time in the past ten minutes. The silver, tan and blue plushie was propped up against the teacher's pencil holder on his desk, facing the chuunin. He focused his gaze on the visible eye of the plushie for another moment, almost positive it had blinked. The chocolate-haired chuunin sighed and returned to grading papers. He only had a few minutes before the students came back from recess.

Kakashi had blinked. It took a lot of effort, but he had done it. Tsunade's jutsu had begun to wear off. The jounin plushie was about to attempt to move a limb or two when the chuunin in front of him began to speak. "Y'know," Iruka began, "I don't actually hate you…" before he started laughing to himself and blushing slightly, "What am I doing? Talking to a plushie like it's actually Kakashi…" In the fluff that was to act as the jounin's brain for however long he was trapped within the form of the doll, Kakashi was laughing too. He tilted his head to the side in order to get a better look at Iruka and toppled over, falling from the desk onto the tiled floor below.

"Ah!" Iruka jumped up from his seat and retrieved the fallen toy, "I'm sorry, Kakashi-san." Iruka laughed softly, "No, you're not Kakashi-san, you're Kakashi-chan…" Kakashi narrowed his eyes momentarily at the suffix and lightly batted at Iruka's hand. The chuunin however, didn't notice.

! -! -!

The recess bell rang and the students filed quickly into the classroom, chattering noisily. From his new position on the chalk tray of the blackboard, Kakashi could easily see the students. A few of them, he noted, were obviously siblings of Naruto's classmates or Gai's students. _The young Huuga, and an Inuzuka_.. The two were obviously noticeable, the Huuga with her bright lilac eyes and the unruly Inuzuka stood out plainly. A few others could be picked out, _Konohamaru and his lackeys, _the plushie grimaced slightly, remembering the rambunctious trio. _Iruka-sensei has quite the class this year…_

A tanned hand picked him up as soon as all of the students were in their seats. "The Hokage has found this plushie by the city walls. Does it belong to any of you?" Iruka spoke clearly and the students had for the most part quieted down.

"Anosa, anosa!" Konohamaru began, "Isn't that Naruto-niisan's sensei?" _Good lord,_ thought Kakashi, _He even talks like the blonde._

"Yes, Konohamaru," Iruka responded, "It does have quite a likeness to Kakashi-san."

Konohamaru continued, "Doesn't he read porn all day?"

"Ah, yes, Konohamaru…" Iruka was a little quieter now, thoroughly aware where the conversation was heading. He wasn't surprised when the young Hyuuga was the next to speak up.

"My father says that although he may be a genius, he is still a disgrace to Konoha."

"I don't know about that, Hanabi," Iruka spoke again, more firmly, "Kakashi-san is an exceptional ninja and a vital asset to our village. He ah… Has some poor habits, that's all…" The room was silent as the would-be nins eyed the plushie in Iruka's hand. "If this doesn't belong to anyone, I will give you back your essays now."

Iruka turned toward the desk and sat the plushie down in return for the pile of now graded weapons usage essays. _So I'm stuck with you now, ne, Kakashi-chan? _

Kakashi was having a few thoughts of his own, which drowned out Iruka's speech on how they could improve the essays. _So I'm some sort of plushie now, all thanks to Tsunade-sama. She purposely left me with Iruka and I have no idea how to undo the jutsu. Iruka thinks I'm out on a mission and that leaves Tsunade to complete whatever twisted plan she has in mind. _He grinned, _Poor Iruka doesn't suspect a thing._

! -! -!

So there you have it! The third chapter, roughly twice the length of the others. XD Again, I'm sorry for the delay and hope to have the next chapter up soon. Much love to my reviewers, Chisara Notell, yaoi-is-wowie21, ffpanda, Kira-chan (I luff you, wifey!), snow887, fattyaddy-99, iNsAnE nO bAkA. Thanks to you all!


	4. Days go By

Title: Plushie no jutsu

Chapter four: Days go by…

Series: Naruto

Author: Miali

Disclaimer: Another verse, same as the first: a little bit louder and a whole lot worse!

! -! -!

Iruka's day had ended fairly normally, staying after class to correct papers and be there for extra help, should a student need it. Kakashi remained on the corner of Iruka's desk, completely idle and not daring to move an inch. Luckily for him, he had spent less interesting days on missions and watching the chuunin was proving to be amusing.

Immediately Kakashi had begun to notice the schoolteacher was more than the homely, humble person he thought he was. When put in front of a classroom of students, the normally docile teacher could reach amazing volumes when scolding (which he did often) but still was approachable by all of his students, should they need him.

Konohamaru, Kakashi had also noted, was much more like the blonde than he had realized. The three goggled children caused more chaos than the other students combined. Most of the chaos rested with the Third's son however. Also, like Naruto, the boy was weak in his basic technique but applied himself thoroughly to what he deemed important. _With a little shaping_, the jounin thought, _He could become quite the rival for Naruto._

The jounin observed the teacher spend the rest of class helping Konohamaru, much to the boy's protest. Kakashi smiled (assuming he had a mouth – that would need to be checked later) at Iruka's passion for teaching and his unwillingness to give up on any student.

Iruka set down the last of the homework and looked over at the plushie. "Well, Kakashi-chan," the jounin mentally twitched. No one had dared to call him Kakashi-chan since his days as a genin, if not before that, "Shall we head home? I don't have mission room duty tonight." Iruka smiled without waiting for a response (after all, who would expect one from a plushie?) and picked up the doll along with his bag and headed for the door. The lights flicked off with a click and the classroom was left in silence.

! -! -!

Kakashi noted that even as a plushie, he could still feel many things. Despite the fuzziness that engulfed what he assumed were still organs, his outside was relatively cold. Thus, when Iruka finally got his keys into the door and it swung opens to reveal a warm apartment, Kakashi was delighted.

"Sakana-chan," Iruka called, "C'mere kitty…"

Kakashi plushie raised an eyebrow, his fluff of a brain wondering why in the world anyone would name their cat that in the first place. (A/N: Sakana – Fish) He shrugged as much as he could without alerting the chuunin, who had now placed him on the table in the kitchen.

From his seat on the table, Kakashi was finally able to get a good look around Iruka's apartment. It was a very warm and inviting place, decorated in deep reds, greens, and golds. The floor was a solid dark wood and the walls had an orangey glow to them with golden highlights placed upon them by the various lamps throughout the room. All of the furniture was made from a dark cherry wood. The sofa was a deep burgundy, atop a rug which combined all of the colors of the living room in a swirling pattern. Bookshelves lined the walls and a coffee table with a glass top was in the center of the area.

The kitchen, he noticed, was simple. White tiling on the countertops, a white porcelain sink, same hardwood floors, and lighter colored cabinets. There was a bowl of fruit on the table, as well as a candle holder of sorts, which was empty. As Kakashi's gaze turned toward the other end of the apartment, a tanned hand lightly grasped him and carried him across the kitchen toward the living room.

Plopping down on the sofa, Iruka looked at the plushie in his hand. "So, Kakashi-chan, how accurate are you?" The chuunin smiled and Kakashi eyes widened slightly. _Wait, what!_

Iruka's fingers ran over Kakashi's felt hair and he chuckled, "It sticks up in the front, but it's flat everywhere else…" Looking over the plushie's face, the chuunin continued to speak, "Kakashi-san is paler, but the expression is correct…" He laughed again as his fingers trailed across to the blue headband. Lifting it revealed the infamous sharingan, which slowly began to spin. Iruka watched it, shocked for a moment before dropping the plushie onto the floor in surprise. Scooping Kakashi up, he covered the eye once more and stared at the unchanging expression. "Well, that was… Weird."

! -! -!

Dinner and the rest of the evening progressed as normally as they would, with Iruka reclining on the couch and reading from a novel as Kakashi watched him. However, the jounin could not concentrate for long as the recent discovery still had his fluff ball mind reeling. _Alright, so I have chakra control – slightly. The sharingan works, I can bring chakra to my hands and feet. Walking, however, is not an option due to my lack of balance. I can only form basic seals such as henge and bunshin. _The sharingan user looked at his chibified hands. The fingers were pudgy and hard to move. They didn't fit well together, and they were very short. The plushie sighed. However, his mind had begun figuring ways to get around the debilitation caused by Tsunade's sadistic jutsu.

Iruka yawned and looked up from his book at the plushie sitting on the table. "All right, Kakashi-chan, shall we head to bed?" Kakashi's attention immediately focused on Iruka as his inner pervert jumped for joy. Iruka gently lifted the doll and carried it to the bedroom. Placing him on the shelf, Iruka stared at Kakashi. "You make me nervous… It's like, you're watching me or something." Iruka laughed softly, "Yes, I'm weird, I know, Kakashi-chan." _Still,_ Iruka thought as he grabbed his clothes and headed toward the bathroom.

Kakashi sat where Iruka had left him, mildly disappointed. He was interrupted, however, by a bright orange blur that ran into the room. His one free eye followed the creature curiously until it hopped up onto the bed. _A cat?_

The cat in question sneezed and growled slightly at the plushie. _Ah, _thought Kakashi, _I probably smell like the nin dogs…_ He winced slightly, _this won't end well…_Luckily for the jounin, the bathroom door opened and Iruka stepped out across the carpet. Kakashi's eyes widened appreciatively at the sight of the shirtless chuunin, it was apparent the schoolteacher did some training in his spare time.

Iruka however, paid little attention to the plushie and instead focused on the cat. "Sakana! There you are, kitty." Kakashi looked down at the cat named Fish and wondered how Iruka came to acquire such a creature. It was small and very round, with orange and gold stripes. It appeared to be a few years old and a small piece of its ear was missing. The feline had a loud purr, and dark blue-green eyes which it stared intently at the plushie with through the entire time Iruka pet the feline.

Kakashi glared back at the cat, although felt slightly more like prey than preditor.

! -! -!

And there you have chapter four. I might pull this out and rewrite it; simply because I don't think it flows very well. I'm kinda disoriented today, so I apologize.

Also, I am in need of a beta reader for my fanfictions. However, I don't just want someone who will say, "Oh, it's good, you just need to work on your spelling." I need someone nitpicky who will tell me exactly what's wrong and give me suggestions on how to fix it.

If there's someone who thinks they're up to the task, please, let me know!

Be on the lookout for the next chapter of Changes and a new story called Restart coming soon :D


	5. Goldfish and Kittycats

Title: Plushie no Jutsu

Series: Naruto

Author: Miali

Chapter five: Goldfish and Kitty-cats

Disclaimer: Another verse, same as the first, a little bit louder and a whole lot worse.

A/N: Okay! So, I'm back. Here's the update for PnJ, I don't have time to type up my drabbles… I spent a good 5 out of 7 hours sleeping in the car today and didn't get any homework done. Yes, real life has caught up with me. I will however, post what I have of the second chapter of Restart in my LJ, so go and read that or something. That should hopefully be done sometime soon!

Oh yes, as for the spelling error in the last chapter – I can't change it… wouldn't let me replace the chapter. Thanks to those that had noticed though… I got to writing authors' notes and forgot about it. XDD

Well now, I've talked myself to death so I shall head on to write chapter five, ne? X3

---

Iruka eventually dozed off, sometime around eleven, throughout the entire time the cat had remained focused on the plushie, who was thinking of ways to avoid the situation yet to come.

Iruka's tanned arm was draped over the plump cat, who was curled into a ball. As soon as he was sure the chuunin was asleep, however, the cat slid languidly from beneath the teacher's arm and leapt silently up onto the shelf where the plushie was sitting. Kakashi shifted slightly to see the cat, but he was unable to turn his fluffy head far enough to see the creature.

A cold nose and whiskers brushed across the back of Kakashi's head and the plushie shivered. The feline rubbed its cheek against the plushie for a moment before a white paw batted at the jounin. Kakashi slid a few inches along the shelf. A few more blows were landed by the feline before Kakashi fell to the ground with a light thump.

The triumphant cat jumped slowly from the shelf to Iruka's bed, landing softly on the sleeping chuunin, who only rolled over, knocking Sakana slightly off balance. The cat forgot about its prey for the moment, finding it uninteresting.

Kakashi looked up at the cat on the bed with his one uncovered eye and a plan came to his mind. All that was necessary was for his headband to be lifted. A small peach arm struggled to lift itself up to a similar-shaded face. Stubby fingers found the bottom of the cloth headband and attempted to lift it up, only to find his arm was too short. Kakashi groaned aloud and rolled over.

On the bed, Sakana's orange ear turned toward the sound, quickly followed by a shift of the head. Kakashi found himself staring into two iridescent green eyes and froze. A soft thump was heard and the cat was quickly beside the plushie. The plushie's mind raced and he quickly put his hands together.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" ten more Kakashi plushies filled the floor. The cat paused for a moment, confused. It shook its head before attempting to pounce on the original plushie. The cat was fast, but Kakashi was faster. "Kwarimi no jutsu!" The cat landed on one of the plushie clones and it evaporated in a puff of smoke. Sakana closed his eyes and sneezed, giving one of the plushies a short amount of time to crawl slowly across the floor toward the original, face dragging and unable to lift its head.

The clone reached its destination and pulled up the original's mask just seconds before the cat pounced on the clone, which again erupted in smoke, causing the cat to sneeze. Kakashi continued to switch through clones, causing the cat to become irritated further and continue to destroy the plushies. Finally there were only two remaining.

Sakana, having learned his lesson by now, pounced on the further clone, only to have it explode in smoke. The original Kakashi plushie laughed. "You really aren't the most intelligent animal, are you?" The cat hissed and swatted at the plushie. Kakashi smiled. "Here kitty kitty kitty…" He caught the cat's eyesight for a moment and preformed a quick genjutsu. Unfortunately for Kakashi, however, the cat's mind works differently from that of a human and the jutsu had no effect.

Within moments, Kakashi lay on the floor, cuts leaking fluffy gore onto Iruka's floor. He looked over at the bits of fluff throughout the room and wondered how long until Iruka awoke.

---

Iruka's buzzer went off promptly at 6:00 AM. He sat up in bed and rubbed at his eyes. A tanned hand reached out to grasp the plushie from the shelf, only to find a blank void. The chuunin's dark eyes dropped to the floor. The plushie wasn't there either. He stood and walked across the room toward the bathroom. Only then did he notice the sight of horror.

Well, it would've been, had Kakashi still been human.

What Iruka did see was a mangled looking Kakashi lying face-up on the floor, bits of fluff strewn across the room, and a very content looking cat sleeping on the heater.

"Sakana!" The cat opened its eyes lazily and meowed at Iruka. The teacher sighed and scooped up the plushie and bits of fluff. "C'mon Kakashi-chan, let's get you fixed up."

In Iruka's kitchen, Kakashi now lay on the table, various sewing supplies spread out around him.

"I'm sorry about Sakana… He's usually not a bad cat… I suppose he gets it from my students." Iruka picked up a needle and thread and began to gently stitch up the plushie's arm. "I suppose you're wondering what I mean by that, ne?" Kakashi nearly nodded, more than a little eager for something to keep his mind off of the needle about to pierce through his arm.

"Sakana was a gift from Naruto's class…" _Ah. Well, that explains something. _The plushie thought, still a little bitter about losing his fight. "The name was a joke, Naruto's idea, based off of what the class had done the previous year." Iruka gestured toward a very large goldfish swimming in a fishbowl on the windowsill. "His name is Neko."

Iruka finished up the stitching in Kakashi's arm and moved to tend to his other injuries. Meanwhile, Sakana wandered victoriously around the kitchen, whining for his breakfast. Iruka sat the plushie down to pour dried brown cat food into a porcelain bowl. The cat ate greedily before hopping up onto the windowsill and watching Neko fixatedly.

_Iruka, you run a strange household._

There was a loud knocking on the door and Iruka hurried to open it. On the other side stood a loud blonde with a fox-like grin on his face.

"Hey – Hey, guess what Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka smiled kindly at the blonde, "What Naruto? Would you like to come in for breakfast?"

The blonde nodded and followed after the teacher into the apartment chattering incessantly behind him. "You're gonna be team seven's leader until Kakashi-sensei gets back!"

On the table, Kakashi laughed.


	6. Mission Part I

Title: Plushie no Jutsu

Chapter Six: Mission Part I

Series: Naruto

Author: Miali

Genre: Humor/Romance

Disclaimer: Another verse, same as the first, a little bit louder and a whole lot worse.

A/N: Whoo, I'm back. I have a crack fic to post sometime soon that I wrote with my friend Black-n-white-stockings. I should get that up tomorrow… Ah, I'm afraid I have some bad news after that. My dad has taken away my computer. I don't know how often I'll be able to write on the one downstairs, so there might be a large chunk of time between updates. Very sorry.

! -! -!

"I-I am?" Iruka looked blankly at Naruto who was now sitting at the table, looking at the plushie. Iruka busied himself in the kitchen already lost in thought. _Today is a Saturday, yes, so I don't have classes that I have to teach… But I can't just let Kakashi-sensei's team not train on weekdays… And I CERTAINLY can't have Naruto around the students. Konohamaru already looks up to him more than enough in some areas. _The teacher sighed. _I guess I'll have to get a sub then._

Naruto looked down at the plate of pancakes that had appeared before him. "Thanks Iruka-sensei!" he managed to say before digging in. Iruka sat down across the table from him and noticed the Kakashi plushie had been moved. It now lay face-down next to Naruto who had apparently been studying it.

The plushie in question had heaved a sigh of relief to find that his mask had been sewn on to his face unlike the headband.

Iruka looked back up at the blonde who was still shoveling food into his mouth. "Ths're rwwy goo Iwka-sensei!" The boy swallowed figuring the teacher would understand enough from his smile and there was no sense in wasting the time to repeat the statement.

"Thank you Naruto." The teacher took a small bite of his pancake, "So did you have anything in mind for the team today?" The blonde nodded energetically and Iruka was suddenly slightly afraid.

"A mission."

! -! -!

Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto reconvened in Iruka's kitchen while they tried to decide which course of action to take with their new assignment. It was a D-rank mission, and a fairly simple task, but all three males were dreading it. The pink haired genin on the other hand was smiling happily.

Sasuke looked at Naruto. The boy had tried to con the special jounin at the mission desk to give him a better assignment but had failed miserably. Firstly because their usual leader was absent (they didn't want another wave-country incident without Kakashi) and secondly because Naruto was just annoying. In fact, Sasuke believed that they were given an even more mundane task because of this.

The raven-haired boy's gaze shifted to the chuunin, who was looking relatively miserable. He had tried to pull some strings with Genma behind the desk to get a better assignment but had also failed. Sasuke discovered an interesting bit of information however. It had become almost instantly apparent that Genma had some sort of blackmail on Iruka by the suggestive flick of the senbon along with the bandana-clad man's sly smile. Iruka's was only further proof of the theory.

"All right!" Sakura said glancing at the clock on the wall, "Is everyone ready to start our mission?" She gave them a quick once-over to make sure no one was forgetting anything and her sea-green eyes fell on the forgotten plushie on the table. "Hey! This could come in handy…" She grabbed the doll and stuffed it in her bag before turning on her heel and walking out the door. The three male members of the "new" team seven had no choice but to follow her.

! -! -!

The four arrived at a large house on the very edge of Konoha within a few minutes. It was the home of one of the council members of the village and it was where their day-long task was to take place. To Iruka, Sasuke, and Naruto it couldn't have looked more foreboding. Sakura just smiled and rang the doorbell, pushing the white button into the brass plate and releasing it. Her smile widened as the door opened.

"Hello! I'm Haruno Sakura, and these are Umino Iruka, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke. We're here to look after Kimimo-chan."

The younger woman at the door smiled, "Thank you so much for coming! Please, come in and make yourselves at home." Sakura slipped off her shoes as she stepped into the house. The others soon followed after her, their gazes wandering around the spacious hall.

"Your house is so lovely Tachima-san!" The pink haired ninja stated as she followed after the owner.

"Oh thank you, I've just begun remodeling you see and…" Mrs. Tachima and Sakura exchanged small talk as the three nins got a good long look around.

"Man, this is the kind of house you could get lost in." Iruka turned and looked at Naruto. Sasuke just rolled his eyes.

"Don't make me come and rescue you if you get kidnapped by dust bunnies, dobe." Naruto stuck his tongue out at the young Uchiha. "And don't even think about losing the kid." Iruka ignored the two bickering and hurried to catch up with the two women. He walked quietly behind them and making careful note about where emergency supplies and other necessities were located. Finally he laid eyes upon their charge and blanched.

Kimimo's big blue eyes looked up at the five of them standing in the living room. "Mommy!" she smiled before heading over to her mother. Once in her mother's arms it was as if she finally had seen the four ninja gathered next to her. She hid her face in her hands and pressed as much of herself into her mother's shoulder as she could fit. Iruka sighed. _At least the kids at the academy are above the age of seven… This one's barely five, if that. _

Sakura smiled at the little girl. "Hi Kimimo-chan, I'm Sakura!" She glanced around, "Are those your dolls over there?" The pink haired ninja pointed to a pile of plastic things in dresses and the little girl nodded. "Can I play with them?" Kimimo nodded again. "Can you help me?" Reluctantly the girl nodded once more and her mother put her down. The two quickly descended upon the dolls and were soon immersed in a game.

Iruka turned to the woman. "Don't worry Tachima-san, your daughter will be safe with us." The woman nodded before giving her daughter one last hug and heading out the door. "Have a good time!"

Naruto glanced at Sakura and Kimimo playing happily. "This'll be a piece of cake."

---

And so ends chapter six. This'll either be in two parts or three parts… It's far too long to make into one. XD I actually really like this part of the story so I may write the second part tonight/tomorrow. It all depends, I suppose.


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